California water regulators extended the state’s first-ever mandatory water conservation rules on Tuesday through to the end of the summer dry season next October, saying the state’s four-year drought
California water regulators extended the state’s first-ever mandatory water conservation rules on Tuesday through to the end of the summer dry season next October, saying the state’s four-year drought is not over despite a wet winter.
The California State Water Resources Board extended rules requiring urban areas to cut their water usage by about 25 per cent statewide over the amount used in 2013 or face fines and other penalties.
But the board eased the restrictions slightly for some communities, allowing slightly lower levels of conservation for areas that experienced large population growth or developed their own alternative sources for water. In addition, communities in hot, dry parts of the state would get a break based on regional climate.
California is in its fourth year of a devastating drought, but this winter is shaping up to be a wet one, replenishing many reservoirs and raising the possibility that the mountain snowpack, which the state relies on to melt in the spring to provide water for its long, hot summers, will be robust.
Even so, board chair Felicia Marcus said it was necessary to extend conservation measures through October in case the promise of the early storms fizzle out and the state finds itself once again baked by drought during the crucial late winter and early spring period.
